


Less Than Secret

by Jen425



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Samurai, Tokusatsu
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24340729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: In which Lauren and Antonio realize that they’d been training for the same goal.
Relationships: Antonio Garcia & Lauren Shiba, Antonio Garcia/Lauren Shiba
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Less Than Secret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meitaroangst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meitaroangst/gifts).



> This takes place in an AU I never wrote where both these kids somehow sneak off and train at a dojo run by Jason (since he’s a RedGold). Antonio just almost blew himself up with his morpher.
> 
> I love you Scarlett!!!

“All this time you—”

“I didn’t know you were Jayden’s sister; I—”

“Were training just the same as me, but—”

“Would have told you if I’d did, but—”

““I didn’t know.””

Antonio groans. Yep. Test 127 of his Samurai Morpher was an abject failure. And painful. Explosions are painful. But an explosion is still better than nothing though, right?

At least the burning is fading faster than it should. That’s one thing the morpher is doing right, tapped him into this huge power and made him heal faster than a human really should. Antonio looks back at the very worried face of Lauren Shiba, apparently yes, that Shiba. Same as Antonio’s best friend.

Who has, herself, been his second best friend since meeting the older girl.

“You’ve been training with them to help the Samurai, is that right?” Lauren asks, helping him to standing. Antonio nods.

“What about you?” He asks. “Jayden had a personal mentor.”

Lauren crosses her arms, pulling her hand from Antonio’s and looking away.

“Fighting isn’t the focus of my training,” she says. “I… no one is even supposed to know I exist.”

What? No, Lauren is obviously closing up, as she often does, and Antonio know when not to push.

“Jayden mentioned you, once,” Antonio says. “He said he hoped he could do enough for his sister. Whatever that means.”

“Oh,” Lauren replies. “Wait… are you really planning to be a Samurai Ranger.”

Antonio blinks. What kind of question is that? He’s 18 and he can fight and make tech and…

“I keep all my promises,” Antonio says. “Isn’t that right?”

“I… yeah.”

“Well I made a promise to your brother, then,” Antonio says simply. “To fight by his side. And yours too now, I guess.”

Lauren’s face lightens. She’s so much softer when there’s hope in her eyes. It hurts too much to think about, how often there simply isn’t.

“Still, it is kind of strange that I didn’t know much about you,” Antonio says.

Lauren immediately shuts down again.

“I…”

Oh. Right. Shit. Touchy subject much? Backtracking

“Lauren, I’m not asking you to tell me something you obviously don’t want me to,” Antonio says.

Lauren just takes a few steps back.

“I…” she starts. “I’m sorry.”

She runs.

  
  
  


Lauren doesn’t stop running until she’s at least a mile from the little area she sometimes meets with and trains with Antonio at.

Focus or not, she has been drilled with incredible skills in fighting and in stamina from as long as she can remember. Normally, she uses those facts to consistently trounce Antonio in spars.

Today she uses them to run.

She supposed that doesn’t run far enough, though, because Antonio catches up a few minutes after she takes her pause.

“I really can’t explain to you,” she says. Antonio blinks.

“I’m really okay with that,” he replies.

“I was so, so happy I’d made a friend,” Lauren says, and she doesn’t realize she’s crying until she feels the tears. “Even if I couldn’t tell you the truth.”

“Why does that have to change?” Antonio asks.

What?

“I really care about you Lauren,” he says. “So I promise  _ you _ that I’ll be by your side, too.”

Lauren blinks.

“Oh.”

“Besides, maybe you can help me with something?” Antonio asks, and, wait, is that OctoZord coming out from behind his shoulder, “me and Octo here just can’t seem to get this morpher to work right.”

He holds out a silver, obviously customizable phone. Lauren vaguely remembers seeing it when she’d run up to their spot in the first place, at the sound of an explosion.

He takes her hand with the hand not holding said phone. (Morpher?)

“You don’t have to tell me,” he says. “But why don’t you show me what you can do?”

There’s a smirk on his face and care in his eyes.

Lauren can’t help but smile back.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @flaim-ita or on my Toku side @dancingqueen-mai


End file.
